I started running 3 months ago. Initially 3 times a week; but now I am in the routine of going 6 out of 7 days but am only going 2 1/2 miles and go the same circuit every time I go out so I can gage easily how well I am doing to previous runs. I find I have to go so often as if not, I am tempted not to go, so have to have a strict routine.

However I am 40 and 13 stone (reasons for running get fit and lose weight) and feeling I am running like a snail! I know I just have to do it at my pace but feel I should be pacing along like all the other runners I see! But guess Im doing OK by just getting out there and doing it? (Ithink m wanting a bit of reassurance here to keep going...)

I did just do 11 days in a row without a day off and although I only do 2 1/2 miles onThurs my knees felt very stiff so I had day off yesterday; I have been again this morning and they were Ok but calves ached is this direct consequence of the running? what should I do. I walk my dog as a warm up and havn't had any problems up until now.

Thankyou in advance! Mollyx

Hi Molly.
I personally think that you're doing great.Attachment 423 Unfortunately, all the aches, pains and stiffness are things that are just part of a runner's life (within reason of course!) .
You will undoubtably get warm welcome here along with some great (although at times, conflicting) advice. Don't worry if you don't get too many replies straight away... It's usually relatively quiet here at week-ends!
Have a dig around the Forum and see the advice that's been given to other beginners. That would be a good start while you wait for personal replies.
But I can guarantee that you'll soon be getting advice regarding footwear, distances/speeds to run, rest, diet etc... But I'll leave that to the others who know more about all that technical stuff.
Even though I've been a runner for such a long time, I still tend to have rather an old-fashioned approach, which basically means that I tend to ignore a lot of the modern technicalities . That's why my advice for beginners is usually a load of rubbish!


Oh, one thing I might suggest though is to vary your route occasionally and to place less emphasis on comparing each run with the previous ones. The relative merit of each run really isn't all that important. What is important is the fact that you're actually getting out for your run in the first place. OK, go back and do the "regular" route every now and then (once a week, perhaps) but dont fall into the trap of pressuring yourself into improving, and then becoming downhearted if you seem to have some bad/slower days. Believe me; EVERYONE has plenty of those. All you need is consistency and patience. You'll get there.

Sorry to have gone on a bit there. I've just got back from a run, and my head's obviously still "buzzing"!

Hope you can make some sense out of all that. Now I seem to have wasted half of your day! Sorry.

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Hi there Molly, sounds like you have overdone it. You need to rest, your body needs time to recover repair and rebuild. I would also suggest altering your route as this will help the progress you are making. Gradually increasing your distance as well will help. On your rest days you could try just taking the dog for a longer walk, so long as you keep your walking sensible and don't go overdo it will help both your recovery and your overall well being.

Keep up the running and well done for starting. Over exerting yourself will only put you off running or lead to injury. Take it easy and enjoy it.

Squint

Hi Molly
I'm new here and started running for much the same reasons as yourself, as mentioned try to alter the length of run and try altering your pace for short distances, this will I think help to you to progress in terms of time/distance/recovery rate. As for the aches and pains I find if I run 2 days out of 3 I will suffer, I did my first 10 k a few weeks back ( having always believed I would never do such a thing ) and the result was I couldn't do another run for about 5 days. You will lose weight and get fitter at a rate that you might not believe.
Hope this helps.

smithy

I went for a 14 mile run between Christmas and New Year for two days afterwards I walked like I'd had an accident in my trousers. I done the same run again the other Sunday and on the Monday was able to do my usual 6 miles with no problem. That was only the second time at doing that distance but in between I'd been doing more miles more regularly. Your body adapts very quickly, as your muscles get used to doing a particular task it becomes very much easier to do and with less effort. That has been proven by clever folks in white coats so it must be true.

Squint

you'll seriously overdoing it and risking injury...

it would be more sensilbe to have 5 days running and 2 days rest a week...

I get told by a certain person (non runner) that you shouldn't run 2 days on a row, you should always rest in between for a day. Is this true?

Wow thankyou for all your responses! i havnt been able to log on since this morning and overwhelmed with the replies and feel so welcomed to your forum.

I am going to go over again carefully what everyone has said and advised me do.Intially I think I shall definately take it a bit easier. Not run tomorrow then something like two on one off and vary my route. I must say I do miss not going as it does set me up for the day makes me feel positive and as if I can achieve so much more...like a buzz.

As for footwear I wear MBTs if someone can just let me know if these are Ok to wear or whether I should be investing in some other footwear? I got these initially for long walks with my dog and have just taken to wearing them for running. I have got a pair of North Face trainers with a baq fastening system so they dont come undone in the middle of a run but they don't seem as cushioned.

Thanks Again pedestrian, Squint, Smithy, Revenged and dimple.

No, it is not true. Do not listen to people who don't run. If you only ran every other day, the maximum days you could run per week would be 4. If you want to seriously improve and become competitive, you need to be able to run more than this. Whether you need a rest days depends on how far and how hard you are running. I try to run 4 or 5 days a week, with a rest day after any hard, long runs. Running 11 days in a row is not advisable, but it is fine to run everyday for 4 or 5 days on occasion. I will often run 4 days in a row. I always run every saturday and sunday, because it's the only opportunity I have to put in some long runs. But if your body feels tired and you have a lot of aches or pains, you need to rest. How much rest you need depends on the individual.

It seems a lot of people who don't exercise and/or are unfit tend to have bizarre views on health and fitness. I sometimes think they are slightly jealous of people who have an interest/passion and want to be good at something and just want to find a way to put them down or be negative about it. Just my opinion based on personal experiences.

Ahh, this is an example to illustrate just how approaches can vary with regard to attitudes to running. As I said in my original post (oh so long ago); advice will be conflicting.
On this thread we've had reference to advice given by non-runners, which was then taken further by JB Bury's example of how to approach improvement and competitiveness (I realise at this point that things may be going beyond the bounds that Molly had intended... apologies )
But then if we take things maybe to the other extreme (and I'll apologise here also to seasoned posters who may have heard all of this stuff before); when I was trying to improve and be truly competitive, there was no such thing as a day without a run. My most successful period of competitive running came during the time when I ran every single day for over 14 years. I'm not setting this out as an example for people to follow; but I feel a need to point out that if anyone wants, for example, to run for 11 straight days, and can do so without any ill effects, then there's no reason why that person shouldn't keep on adding days of running to that total. It all depends on the individual, and on the type of running that's being done.
This is in no way a condemnation or criticism of any of the advice given previously on this thread... It all has a sound base. It's just a proverbial case of "Horses for courses"... each to their own... What suits one runner isn't necessarily going to suit another... etc.
I have to admit (again) that I am constantly frustrated by what I perceive to be a tentative approach to running these days. We, as a rule, are physically capable of far more than we think we are. But mentally we are held back by what we are told we are capable of.

I don't know if it serves as a lesson or not, but a majority of our finest endurance athletes were successful back in the days before there was access to all the technical know-how and training theory that we now take for granted (I'm referring to the 60's/70's era). In essence they were "experimenting" on themselves with training techniques in a state that can, with hindsight, be regarded as "blissful ignorance". There was nobody telling them what was and was'nt possible, so they were often pushing themselves to limits which are regarded today as being ridiculous, and therefore unrepeatable; although the results gained from such "ignorance" cannot be ignored.

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I will be adding an extra day this week, am going to stop listening to people who think they know better.

what stopped your running streak ?

It's true to say that the "streak" gave me my most successful period of running; but after labouring with a back/pelvic problem for about 3 or 4 years, it began to be more of a destructive occupation than the productive one it was meant to be. Due to imbalances caused by the back problem, I ended up with a stress fracture in a shin, and although I was still very fit and achieving decent race results, I decided just to call it quits. It was during a solo 2.5 hour run that I just said to myself that this was going to be the last run of the streak. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be, and I think I ended up having something like 3 months off! One extreme to the other.

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i'm still surprised that you ran like that and never did a marathon...

(soz for hijacking the thread)

I raced at 20 miles (1hour 48 min) a couple of times, and that taught me that the marathon wasn't for me.
Myself, and other people who've grown up as runners have never really seen the marathon as the "be all and end all" of racing which it has now become. We were brought up with track racing in the summer, and cross country in the winter, with road relays and shorter road races thrown in when time allowed. Marathons were just never on the agenda. It seems that many people set out on a running career these days with the sole intent of doing the marathon. Is this now the norm?
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